places off-planet #5 – Comet Hale-Bopp 1996

Comet Hale-Bopp could be seen from Earth in late 1996 and early 1997. Its strange name is from the independent co-discoverers, Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp. Hale-Bopp was a large comet, with a nucleus of about 60 miles in diameter. It had two visible tails, one of gas and one of dust, and had a third tail of sodium. It has been called the most-observed comet in history. Hale-Bopp won’t be back until 4385!

I have no specific memory of Hale-Bopp itself, although I do remember a common saying in our household in 1997 was to greet almost every out-of-place object with “Hail! Bopp!”. The poem I wrote after seeing the comet is all I have to know how it appeared to me.